


Scheduling Conflict

by spellcastersjudgement



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Boys Kissing, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, tutorshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 20:12:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14984723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spellcastersjudgement/pseuds/spellcastersjudgement
Summary: Jaden had no patience for finals.





	Scheduling Conflict

**Author's Note:**

> tutor fluff!!! this was a prompt from the kissing meme thing and yall i am so thirsty for these two ive got a bunch of WIPs that are a long way from being published so it feels good to get something out there 
> 
> i have no self control this ask turned into 2500 words so i hope yall enjoy my otp suffering

#30: a kiss as comfort 

Jaden had no patience for finals. He thought that by asking Bastion to study with him, the Ra’s infinite patience for studying would balance him out, make it more bearable to sit in the library for hours on end. By the time Jaden had psyched himself up to actually pack his bookbag and head on over to the yellow dorm to ask Bastion to study, he was already dreading it. Bastion, unlike everyone else, would actually, actually want to study. He would actually open a textbook and actually make flashcards, and actually work through practice tests. 

That’s not what studying was supposed to be. Studying wasn’t actually studying. It was the shared illusion of productivity. It was coffee and snacks and open textbooks but no work. It was watching the hours slip by with the promise that at least one math problem or one page from a textbook would be read. 

Bastion Misawa did not understand the social contract of studying together. Jaden asked him to study together anyway. 

“Please, don’t mind the mess, Jaden,” 

“Nah, it’s good, Bastion,” Jaden stepped into his friend’s dorm room, glancing around. “Holy shit, you did a number on this place,” 

Bastion closed the door, a nervous laugh coming from him. “Yes, well–I’ve been holed up here the past forty-eight hours. I have a rigorous study schedule and so little time to adequate go through the material,” 

Though in no position to judge anyone’s cleanliness, for Jaden Yuki’s dorm room was a biohazard, especially with the addition of Chazz, he felt compelled to pick up the pizza boxes and at least put them in a pile, kick the dirty clothes under the desk to make a path to the bathroom, maybe put a few of what seemed like hundreds of coffee cups in the sink, maybe even spray some air freshener. 

“What exams are you studying for, Jaden?” Bastion pushed past him, taking the pencil from out behind his ear and returning to a spot on the wall. A textbook sat on the bed behind him, also full of scribbles. It was math, but it might as well have been a foreign language to him. “Alexis was over for the computer engineering final–or rather, studying for it. The final isn’t until the day after tomorrow,” 

Alexis was also a fan of actually studying, Jaden remembered. No wonder she and Bastion were best friends. 

“Uh, only ones I actually planned on studying for are,” he looked at the schedule he’d printed out. A prop in his illusion of productivity. “I got an exam in archaeology and one in linguistics. English is a paper, no studying required. Dueling classes I could pass with my eyes closed,” 

“You already do,” Bastion said. “I don’t think you’ve stayed awake for more than ten minutes in Banner or Crowler’s classes,” 

“I’m takin’ that as a compliment, Bastion,” he flopped on the bed, the backpack too heavy for his tastes. 

“It was,” Bastion responded, the sounds of his pencil scratching against the wall picking up speed as he got more excited, more invested in his math problem. 

Jaden was not entirely unconvinced Bastion used his Vector Calculus textbook as a fleshlight. 

“Linguistics,” 

Jaden was looking at the ceiling, the one place Bastion hadn’t touched since he’d put on a fresh coat of paint. Once the four walls were filled up, there was no doubt the Ra would Michelangelo it. At the sound of Bastion’s voice, he looked over. “Yeah, that one’s on Friday. Gonna be a real bitch, too,” 

“I didn’t know you were interested in linguistics,” 

“Gotta take something,” Jaden responded, shrugging. 

“Is that so?” 

His tone was suspicious. Sitting up, Jaden shrugged off his Slifer jacket, putting the textbook in his lap and watching his friend work. “Yeah, seemed interesting,” 

“You think language is interesting?” 

“I mean, I guess. Not really what I wanna do with my life or anything, but it’s cool,”

Bastion stopped writing on the wall. He sat down heavily on the bed next to Jaden, turning his sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated gaze to him. “I forgot to ask you,” 

“Ask me what?” 

“Your major,” Bastion’s pencil found its way between his teeth, the wood helpless against the chewing. 

“Anthropology,” Jaden answered. “Wanted to do General Studies so I could put in more time for training, but my adviser thought I’d be good at it, and it’d look better if the pro dueling career didn’t work out,” 

“You will be a professional duelist. I have every confidence in you,” 

Bastion was looking at him, a fierce look in his eyes, jaw set. The conviction in his voice didn’t escape Jaden, and though he was no stranger to praise about his dueling abilities–defeating a professor during the entrance exam got around fast–but Bastion didn’t hand out compliments easily. Jaden felt his face flush with the praise, a bit giddy, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. The Ra was smiling too, just a soft curve of his lips, his cheeks a dusty pink–Jaden had never seen his friend blush before, priding himself on his composure even in the most embarrassing situations. 

Bastion cleared his throat and looked away, eyes fixing on the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and bit his lip. “So, uh–studying,” 

“Do we have to?” Jaden grumbled. He would’ve rather watched Bastion Misawa blush himself silly all night. 

“I have a schedule to keep to. These exams aren’t going to pass themselves,” Bastion stood up, wiping his hands on his jeans, once again clearing his throat. “You can take the desk if you’d like,” 

“Bed is comfier,” Jaden said. “Slifer beds feel like cardboard,” 

“Oh, I remember. My back was sore after I slept there, and that was just one night. Can’t imagine what it’s doing to you sleeping on it every night,” Bastion was back to his scribbles. 

“Aw, you’re just too sensitive. Come back over, you’ll get used to it,” Jaden laughed, begrudgingly opening his backpack and pulling out a textbook. The spine cracked as it opened for the first time that semester. 

“Hmm,” Bastion wasn’t paying attention anymore, back to his equations. 

Jaden watched his friend for a moment. In the months they’d spent time together–in classes, at lunch, over at each other’s dorm rooms–he had seen Bastion write on walls and spend hours on homework, often going to sleep in the early hours of the morning (it was more of a nap, truthfully, since Bastion’s classes were all early in the morning, giving him not much time to sleep), but never less than pristine in his appearance. Though Jaden wouldn’t deny he liked the green tank top and five o’clock shadow, he couldn’t help but wonder if Bastion was running himself ragged with his self-prescribed “study schedule.” 

This is why Bastion should stick to real studying, not this ridiculous version of “studying.” 

Trying not to pout, Jaden stopped admiring Bastion’s back–he could see his well-defined muscles through the shirt, and that was not the way to be looking at his friend, even though he had a notorious lack of boundaries–the breadth of his shoulders, the way his hands delicately held the pencil, to look down at the book. Ugh, this was stupid. He should’ve asked Syrus to study with him. Syrus wouldn’t make him read. 

Strictly speaking, Bastion wasn’t making him do anything, but he was certainly encouraging academia by not dicking around with Jaden instead of doing work. 

Dicking around. Bad choice of words, given that he was just intently studying every inch of Bastion’s upper body. 

It couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes before Jaden’s mind refused to focus. Orthography was fascinating, just not fascinating enough to stare at for more than five minutes. He was surprised that he’d even made it this far before his brain started to unravel. 

Bastion, of course, was still going strong. Jaden rolled over onto his side, propping his hand up on his chest to watch. 

Math was a form of torture for Jaden, and every day he was thankful that he’d picked a program where he wouldn’t have to deal with numbers past a couple 100-level classes. Bastion, of course, had made things harder on himself by majoring in physics, which seemed like an endless parade of calculus to Jaden. He watched as Bastion drew a swooping, S-shaped curve on the wall before a series of letters and numbers, seeming to drag on past the acceptable character limit for equations. 

“Shit,” 

Jaden blinked as he heard the expletive drop off his friend’s lips. Every one of his friends swore like sailors, even Syrus, who liked to yell at his accounting homework when Jaden wasn’t preventing him from doing it, but Bastion wasn’t given to such coarse language. He’d never been pretentious or holier-than-thou about it, and maybe Jaden could’ve found it cute if he didn’t hear the pencil clatter to the floor because Bastion’s hand was shaking. 

“Hey, you alright?” He pushed himself off of the bed, bent over to pick up the pencil, then stood next to Bastion, concerned. “What happened?” 

“Um, my apologies,” Bastion was trying to steady his hand, the left one gripping his wrist. “Don’t know what happened, I–” 

“Too much caffeine,” Jaden leaned against the wall. Bastion had stretched his hand out for the pencil, but Jaden was disinclined to return it to him. 

“Haven’t slept much,” Bastion said, wincing a bit like the admission hurt him. 

“The bed’s too comfy–need to sleep on cardboard for a bit to reset your system,” 

“Jaden, I can’t leave,” Bastion said, agitated, scratching the stubble on his chin. “I have a schedule–” 

“You didn’t put sleeping into your schedule?” Jaden interrupted. Of course Bastion Misawa would plan for everything except normal human functions. “Bastion, that’s not–you don’t need to sleep twelve hours like me, but surely you have to get at least a couple hours,” 

“I can’t,” Bastion’s voice was just barely above a whisper, grey eyes boring a hole into the wall, jaw clenched. “I’m terrified,” 

Oh god. Jaden was not well-versed in comforting others. 

“About–about what?” he thought that was a good enough start. 

“It’s stupid, Jaden, I’m sorry,” Bastion shook his head, still not meeting Jaden’s eyes. 

“I don’t think so,” it was a weak assurance, but damn if it weren’t true. He felt an uncomfortable twisting in his stomach, an intense need to make Bastion happy again, even if he didn’t think he was particularly good at emotions. 

“Jaden, I don’t want to worry you. Please, study,” 

“Are you worried about the exams?” 

Bingo. 

Bastion nearly collapsed back on the bed, his head in his hands, a muffled affirmation coming from him. 

“Why? You’re top of the freshman class!” Jaden sat down, probably a hair too close for friends but still not close enough to make the twisting in Jaden’s stomach go away. Maybe just a bit closer. 

Their shoulders pressed together, and Bastion tensed but didn’t move away. “I have to work hard if I want it to stay that way,” 

“All you do is work, Bastion–all the librarians know you by name, your all our professor’s favorite, you even beat Chazz and got promoted to Obelisk!” Jaden nudged his friend with his shoulder, laughing. “Come on, Bastion–you gotta be kidding. Not sleeping, shutting yourself in–you’ll go crazy!” 

Bastion lifted his head from his hands, and Jaden’s heart dropped when he saw the shine of tear tracks on his cheeks. 

“Hey, hey, come on–don’t cry,” Jaden couldn’t help himself, he was grabbing Bastion’s face, angling it to face him. “Don’t–don’t cry. You’re tired and wired and you’ve got cabin fever–come to Slifer, we can–” 

“I appreciate it, but if I leave I’ll just feel more anxious. It’ll be over in a few days, don’t worry about me,” 

Jaden stared at him, every blink making tears spill from his eyes, his sniffling doing nothing to stop the snot dripping out of his nose. “Bastion–” 

“Go home, Jaden. You don’t need to see me like this,” 

God dammit, he was not about to be pushed out like this. 

Jaden Yuki would freely admit he had no impulse control, but at the time kissing Bastion seemed like a damn good idea. 

it was so convenient–his face was already in his hands, he was so close, and Jaden desperately needed to make him feel better, feel appreciated, feel like his talent and dedication to his studies were recognized. Jaden kept his eyes open as their lips crushed together–he hadn’t kissed anyone in his life, so it was bound to be sloppy, but after the initial shock, Bastion’s eyes widening and his brows shooting up into his hairline, the Ra responded in full. Jaden closed his eyes and scooted closer, feeling Bastion’s arm slid around him, his palm in the center of his back, bringing him closer. 

Jaden tilted his head slightly, governed more by instinct than experience, opening his mouth just slightly, feeling Bastion’s tongue swiping over his lip, teeth accidentally digging into his top lip, their movements not completely in sync. Their teeth clicked together as Jaden clumsily pressed closer, just short of climbing into Bastion’s lap. The Ra’s other hand was in his hair, sliding down to cup the back of his neck, and Jaden couldn’t help the hum of satisfaction as short nails scratched his neck. 

Breathing–oh Jaden had never hated respiration before, but as he was forced to pull away as his lungs burned, he despised it. Not wanting to be too far from his–his friend? boyfriend? what did this mean now?–he rested his forehead against the Ra’s. Bastion’s hands didn’t leave his hair or his back, and Jaden was grateful. 

“Gonna do great,” Jaden whispered. “You have every confidence in me, you said–I have every confidence in you too,” 

“Thank you, Jaden. That means so much to me,” Bastion’s voice was still thick, gravelly from the tears, but Jaden could feel the smile beneath the hands still on Bastion’s cheeks. 

“Come to Slifer with me–call Alexis on the way. We can go down to the beach and relax. I promise we’ll study tomorrow,” 

“It’s not in the schedule,” Bastion laughed, and Jaden could feel the breath on his cheek. 

“That’s a shame, guess I won’t be able to kiss you under the stars,” Jaden teased, knowing that deep down he meant it, and hoped that Bastion wanted it. 

Bastion’s response nearly made his heart explode with happiness. 

“Looks like my schedule just opened up.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m excited to announce that I’m open for [commissions!](https://spellcastersjudgement.tumblr.com/post/174622005229/hey-yall-horrible-puns-and-cheesy-banner-aside) I also have a [Ko-Fi!](https://ko-fi.com/spellcastersjudgement) Thank you for donating/commissioning!


End file.
